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Saturday Morning News

'Monday Night Football' Booth Mixes Sports and Comedy

Aired June 24, 2000 - 8:40 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: OK, a decision to mix sports and comedy will be enough to help revive "Monday Night Football."

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: They've added comedian Dennis Miller, who undoubtedly will be paying attention as he is in the booth. But will the move score with fans?

CNN's Jim Moret is paying attention to the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM MORET, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More viewers have been saying no, so ABC is betting audiences will once again tune into its venerable "Monday Night Football" by bringing some comic relief to the broadcast booth.

DENNIS MILLER, COMEDIAN: All I did was try out and they happened to like it and the next thing you know I'm in there.

MORET: ABC drafted comedian Dennis Miller, host of his own HBO series, to sit alongside veteran play by play announcer Al Michaels and Hall Of Famer Dan Fouts this season.

DON OHLMEYER, ABC SPORTS: I think we'll certainly have a different approach to doing football than anybody else on the air.

AL MICHAELS, ABC SPORTS: And if anybody for a second thinks that Dennis Miller is just here to provide comedy or to be off the wall or to lend it a political bent they could not be more incorrect. Dennis Miller knows football and knows it very well.

MORET: The program needed a shot in the arm. Last season was the lowest rated in its 30 year history.

WAYNE FRIEDMAN, "ADVERTISING AGE" MAGAZINE: I think what ABC is doing is obviously trying to attract a lot of the magic they had with Howard Cosell when it was a very entertaining show. By bringing Dennis Miller in they're obviously looking for the sort of lighter side, the more entertainment value. It isn't prime time after all.

MORET: But a fumble could be costly.

DAVID CARTER, SPORTS BUSINESS GROUP: Many of those fans will question the credibility of Dennis Miller at first. I think they, the network runs the risk of having this announcement appear as though it's a desperate gimmick for the network.

UNIDENTIFIED FAN: I want sports. I don't want comedy. I'm not even sure he's that funny on HBO.

MORET: Still, the addition could attract new fans.

OHLMEYER: "Monday Night Football," you know, in order to be successful needs to be relevant to the hard core football fan. It needs to be accessible to the occasional football fan, which makes up a lot of the audience, and it needs to be unpredictable to all of them.

UNIDENTIFIED FAN: I think it's great because he is very humorous and he know about football a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED FAN: He's a sexy guy, too, so it's something to watch.

MORET: Miller's kickoff is July 31st.

Jim Moret, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

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